A monetary reward alters pacing but not performance in competitive cyclists

Money has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a monetary reward in well-trained cyclists on their pacing and performance during short and long cycling time trials (TT). Twentythree cyclists (6 ♀, 17 ♂) completed 4 self-paced time trials (TTs, 2 short: 4 km and 6 min; 2 long: 20 km and 30 min); in a randomized order. Participants were separated into parallel, non-randomized “rewarded” and “non-rewarded” groups. Cyclists in the rewarded group received a monetary reward based on highest mean power output across all TTs. Cyclists in the non-rewarded group did not receive a monetary reward. Overall performance was not significantly different between groups in short or long TTs (p \u3e 0.48). Power output showed moderatly lower effect sizes at comencement of the short TTs (Pmeandiff = 36.6 W; d \u3e 0.44) and the 20 km TT (Pmeandiff = 22.6 W; d = 0.44) in the rewarded group. No difference was observed in pacing during the 30 min TT (p = 0.95). An external reward seems to have influenced pacing at the commencement of time trials. Participants in the non-rewarded group adopted a typical parabolic shaped pattern, whereas participants in the rewarded group started trials more conservatively. Results raise the possibility that using money as an extrinsic reward may interfere with regulatory processes required for effective pacing

Comparing maximal mean and critical speed and metabolic powers in elite and sub-elite soccer

The quantification of maximal mean speed (MMS), maximal mean metabolic power (MMP met), critical speed (CS) and critical metabolic power (CP met) was conducted over full A-League (elite) and National Premier League (NPL; sub-elite) seasons. Comparisons were made between levels of soccer competition and playing positions (i. e. centre backs, full backs, central midfielders, wide midfielders and strikers). A symmetric moving average algorithm was applied to the GPS raw data using specific time windows (i. e. 1, 5, 10, 60, 300 and 600 s) and maximal values were obtained. Additionally, these maximal values were used to derive estimates of CS and CP met. Maximal mean values, particularly during smaller time windows (i. e. 1 and 5 s), were greater in A-League match play. Only MMP met1 was identified as being consistently different between competitions (P = \u3c 0.001 – 0.049) in all playing positions. Significance was only observed in CS (P = 0.005) and CP met (P = 0.005) of centre backs between competitions. Centre backs were identified as the least energy demanding playing position. The present findings suggests that both maximal mean and critical analyses are suitable alternatives to common absolute distance and speed assessments of match running performance during competitive matches. © 2020 Georg Thieme Verlag KG StuttgartNew York

Influence of all-out and fast start on 5-min cycling time trial performance

The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of two different fast-start pacing strategies on performance and oxygen consumption (V˙O2) during cycle ergometer time trials lasting ∼5 min